Afghanistan starts the 2026 Diamond Jubilee International Football Tournament in strong form after defeating Maldives with a last minute 1-0 goal.
As Maldives' Captain Samooh Ali is injured, coach István Urbányi gave the responsibility of leading the team in the tournament to Hamza Mohamed (Hampu).
This is the first international tournament Hamza, who is on the team's list of Vice Captains, will be playing while wearing the captain's band for Maldives. Hamza has played previous games as Maldives' captain as well.
Afghanistan put pressure on Maldives in the first half with fouls and free kicks.
However, Maldives periodically threatened Afghanistan's goal in the first half as well. One of Ibrahim Waheed Hassan's attempts to pass the ball to Ibrahim Aisam into the penalty box was defended against by Afghanistan goalkeeper Faisal Hamidi.
One of Maldives' subsequent counter attacks saw an attempt on goal from outside the box, only for the ball to go past the goal post.
Maldives started the second half with one of their more experienced players, Ali Fasir (Sentey), who substituted Ahuzam Rasheed (Ahukko).
The Maldives team has rallied in the past with Fasir stepping onto the field, with the team's attacks getting stronger during this match as well.
Afghanistan launched a strong attack in the 60th minute, with Amin Nabizada's powerful strike after going past a Maldivian defender from outside the box being stopped by Maldives' goalkeeper Hussain Shareef.
Maldives made their substitutions in order to strengthen their attacks. 19 year old Nassah Ibrahim Naseer, who substituted Mohamed Ilan Imran, put pressure on Afghanistan's defensive line within the first minute of him coming onto the pitch.
Afghanistan goalkeeper Hamidi had a difficult time defending against Nassah's cross into the penalty box, with it resulting in a corner kick.
The strike from Maldives' Ibrahim Mahudhee Hussain (Feydhoo Ibbe) bounced off Hamidi's arm, resulting in a corner kick.
Nassah pressured Afghanistan in the 71st minute by getting through a tight space from the side of the penalty box and pressured Afghanistan with a cross, which they defended by sending the ball out for a corner kick.
Aisam attempted a shot on goal straight from the corner. However, Hamidi was able to defend against that attempt.
While Maldives had been playing well, Afghanistan's Roman Fazi scored against them in the 80th minute after the team created an opportunity. He had scored off of a header from a teammate inside the penalty box by a cross into the penalty box.
Ali Ashfaq (Dhagandey) was substituted onto the pitch, which made it the 100th match he had played while wearing the national jersey.
The last time Afghanistan had played on Maldives' pitch was 12 years ago during the AFC Challenge Cup hosted by Maldives. Maldives beat Afghanistan via a penalty and secured third place.
